Uncoupling and centering mechanism for car-couplings.



W. McCONWAY JR. &.W.'J. REGAN.

UNCOUPLING AND CENTERING MECHANISM FOR CAR COUPLING S.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-21,1916- Patented May 15, 1917'.

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UNCOUPLING AND CENTERING MECHANISM FOR CAR COUPLINGS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-2h1916.

1,226,093. Patented May15,1917.

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WILLIAM MGGONWAY, JR., AND WILLIAM J. REGAN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNORS TO THE MCCONWAY & TOBLEY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYL- VANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

UNCOUPLING AND CENTEBING- MECHANISM FOR CAR-COUPLINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1917.

Application filed. December 21, 1916. Serial No. 138,230.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM McCon- WAY, Jr., and lVILLIAM J. REGAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Uncoupling and Centering Mechanism for CarGouplers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact -description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same' Our invention relates to mechanism for unlocking car couplers and for shifting them laterally in order that they may be brought to' a position enabling a coupling with another car to be effected readily when the cars are upon curved track. It is the object of the invention to provide simple and readily assembled mechanism by which the operations of unlocking and shifting the coupler may be easily and safely effected. Generally stated, these objects are attained by interposing a wearing shoe or chair between the laterally movable coupler and its carry-iron, by supporting from the shoe or chair the mechanism for moving the coupler whereof is pointed out in the claims,

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of mechanism embodying our invention, a portion of the end of a car to which it is applied being also'shown. and the head of the coupler being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the devices shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is adetail view, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, of a portion ofdthe mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1 an 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the preferred form of wearing shoe or coupler chair en1- bodied in the mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the wearing shoe or chair, the section being taken on the line 55, Fig. 4:.

F ig. 6 is a detail front elevation of the wearing shoe shown in the preceding views.

Fig. 7 is a detail view, partly in elevation and partly in section on the line 7-7, Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a portion of the mechanism, the parts being in normal position.

Fig. 9 is a view corresponding to Fig. 8, but illustrating the relations assumed by the parts when the mechanism is to be operated to effect a lateral shifting of the coupler.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a modified form of wearing shoe or coupler chair employing anti-friction balls instead of rollers.

Fig. 11 is a section on the line 11-11, Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a wearing shoe or coupler chair unprovided with antifriction roller devices.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a portion of the end of a car, and 2 indicates a car coupler having a lock 3 which serves to lock the knuckle 4 of the coupler in closed position. The details of construction of the coupler, not being essential to our invention, may be of any desired form.

The shank of the coupler 2 is carried by a wearing shoe or coupler chair 5 that is slidably mounted upon a carry-iron 6 rigidly attached to the car framing by means of bolts 7 and 8. The shoe 5'is provided with means whereby it may be caused to shift laterally with the coupler, such means preferably consisting of upwardly extending flanges 9 between which the shank of the coupler lies. These flanges are preferably inclined with respect to each other and to the longitudinal axis of the mechanism and so spaced as to afford clearance for a tapered shank coupler in bufiing operations as well as clearance permitting angling of either a straight or tapered shank coupler when the car to which the mechanism is applied is passing around a curve. The shoe 5 is also provided with downwardly extending flanges 10 and 11, which embrace the carryiron 6 with reasonable closeness, the shoe or chair 5 being thus guided in its lateral movements by the carry-iron. In the construction shown in the principal figures of the drawings the shoe 5 is formed with a plurality of pockets or recesses for the reception of anti-friction rollers 12. One such roller is mounted upon the upper side of the shoe so as to contact the under surface of the shank of the coupler and form an anti-friction bearing permitting longitudinal reciprocation of the coupler in draft and bufiing; and two of the rollers are preferably interposed between the shoe 5 and the carry-iron 6, being mounted in longitudinally extending pockets formed in the lower side of the shoe. As clearly illus trated in Figs. 1 and 5 the rollers 12 are preferably retained in assembled position -1 in their respective pockets by means of projections 13 cast on the shoe or coupler chair at the margins of the pockets in which the rollers are mounted, such projections 13 being flanged, bent or turned down over the rollers after the latter have been placed in their pockets.

The shoe 5 is provided with means for supporting devices for actuating the coupler lock 3 to effect an unlocking of the coupler, such means preferably consisting of spaced, downwardly extending hook-like brackets 14 which may be conveniently cast integral with the shoe. These brackets 14 form bearings for the trunnions 15 of a lock actuating lever or lifter 16 which, at its outer end, is pivotally connected by means of a pin 17 to a link member 18 that loosely engages the coupler lock 3. The hooks 14 do not closely fit the trunnions 15, but are somewhat widened in order to permit such lateral or turning movement of the member 16 as is incident to the lateral movement of the coupler.

Between its trunnions 15 at its rear end the lock actuating member 16 is provided with a laterally open recess 19 which is adapted to receive the upwardly extending inner end 20 of a rotatable uncoupling lever or bar 21 that extends toward the side of the car. The inner end of the member 21 is supported upon the lower wall of the recess 19 in the member 16, the said wall, when the parts are in assembled position, being far enough below the bottom of the proximate bracket let to permit the inner end of the uncoupling lever 21 to be inserted into the recess or pocket 19, but being sufiiciently close to the lower face of said bracket to enable the un coupling lever 21 to engage the latter and prevent any such extended upward movement of the rear end of the lock actuating member 16 as would allow the trunnions 15 thereof to become disassociated from their hearing brackets 14. The uncoupling lever 21 thus serves as a means for maintaining the lock actuating member 16 in assembled position.

The outer end of the transversely extending rotatable bar 21 is preferably supported in a bracket 22 which may be cast integral with the fulcrum member 23 mounted on the car near the side thereof. The bracket 22 is preferably formed with a side opening permitting the introduction of the rod 21, such side opening being closed by a cotter 2 1. The rod or bar 21 is so mounted in the bracket or bearing 22 that it may rotate freely to effect an unlocking movement of the coupler lock 3 and may also slide in the direction of its length in order to effect a lateral shifting of the coupler 2.

Movably mounted upon the outer end of the member 21 is a lever 25 having an operating arm 26 which may be conveniently grasped by the trainman, and having at its upper end a plurality of teeth 27 that are adapted to enter tooth-like recesses 28 in the abutment member The movable connection of the members 21 and 25 is preferably pivotal and may be simply effected by providing the outer end of the rod 21- with perforated jaws 29 which are adapted to receive the lever 25 between them, and by passing a bolt or pivot pin 30 through the openings in said jaws and through a corresponding opening in the lever 25.

As shown in Figs. 1, 8 and 9 the walls of the pockets 28 of the fulcrum member 28 are formed as teeth which are adapted to engage or mesh in rack-and-pinion fashion with the teeth 27 at the upper end of the op erating lever 25. Having been once brought into engagement, continuous contact between the fulcrum member 23 and lever 25 is afforded throughout a movement of the lever corresponding to an extended lateral shifting of the coupler, and it thus becomes unnecessary, as has heretofore been the case, for the operator to remove the lever from one pocket and shift it to another in order to preserve an effective leverage for shifting the coupler laterally. The rack-and-pinion coiiperation of the lever 25 and fulcrum reduces the friction between the rod 21 and its supporting bracket 22 when the lever is in the extended position indicated by dotted slant from the vertical when the parts are in normal position, so that the lever 25, wnen in the extended position and with the teeth 27 engaged with the fulcrum member 23,

assumes the position illustrated in Fig. 9, the overhang or ofisetting of the operating arm 26 of the lever with respect to the rod 21 being such that the lever will be automatically disengaged by gravity from the fulcrum member 23 in the event the trainman should leave it in engaged position after having operated the mechanism to cause a lateral shifting of the coupler. In order to be able to shift the coupler 2 laterally while its knuckle f is locked, and also to enable the lateral shifting to be accomplished when the knuckle is standing open and the lock 3 is in raised or unlocked position, the recess or pocket 19 in the lock actuating member 16 is made of sufficient size to afford the clearances, both in front and to the rear of the inner end 20 of the rotatable uncoupling rod 21 required to allow the rotatable rod to turn to the desired extent without operating the lock actuating member 16. I

In the modified form of wearing shoe or coupler chair 5* illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings, the anti-friction rollers are in the form of balls 12 which project through the upper and lower faces of the shoe, the bottoms of the balls being designed to rest upon the upper face of the carry-iron 6, and the tops of the balls affording direct support 'for the coupler 2. The balls 12 may be retained in assembled relation to the shoe by means of projections 13 corresponding in form and function to the projections 13 formedon the shoe 5 for an identical purpose. The con struction of this modified form of wearing shoe maybe in other respects like that shown in the principal figures of the drawings and heretofore described. In Fig. 5 is shown a form of wearing shoe or chair 5 which is substantially like the shoes 5 and 5 except that it is not provided with anti-friction roller devices.

When it is desired merely to unlock the coupler the operator grasps the operatingarm 26 of the lever 25 and rotates it for- \vardly, thus causing a corresponding rotation of the transversely extending rod 21. Because of the engagement of the upturned end 20 of the rotatable rod with the lockac'tuating member 16, the latter is caused to perform an upward or unlocking rotation which, being communicated to the lock 3 through the intermediate member or link 18, causes said lock to execute an unlocking movement. When the coupler 2 is to be shifted laterally in either direction to bring it into suitable position for readily coupling with the coupler of another car, the trainman grasps the operating arm 26 of the lever and manipulates it to bring the teeth 27 thereof into operative engagement with the fulcrum member 23, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 9. With the teeth 27 of the lever in engagement with the fulcrum member 23 the operator applies power to the operating arm 26, either in an upward or a downward direction accordingly as it is desired to draw the coupler toward him or shift it in the opposite direction, thereby causing the transversely extending rod 21' to slide or shift in its direction of length and cause a corresponding lateral shifting of the connected coupler.

We claim:

1. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler provided with a movable lock, of a carry-iron for said coupler, a shoe interposed between said coupler and carry-iron, and means connected to said shoe for unlocking said 0011 pler.

2. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a laterally movable coupler, of a carry-iron for said coupler, and manually operated means for shifting said coupler laterally, said means involving a laterally movable shoe interposed between said coupler and carry-iron and serving to shift said coupler laterally to any desired position.

3. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, of a carry-iron for said coupler, a shoe interposed between said coupler and carryiron and provided with means whereby it may support mechanism for unlocking the coupler, and anti-friction devices interposed between and engaging said shoe and carryiron.

l. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a laterally movable coupler, of a carry-iron therefor, a shoe interposed between said coupler and carry-iron, anti-friction devices mounted on said shoe, and means for shifting said coupler laterally in either direction to any desired position, said means involving said shoe.

5. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a laterally movable coupler, of means for supporting the same upon the car, and means for shifting said coupler laterally, said means involving a lever having a plurality of teeth, and a fulcrum member with which said teeth are adapted to have rack-and-pinion engagement.

6. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a laterally movable coupler, of means extending beneath the coupler for unlocking the same, a carry-iron for supporting said coupler, and a plurality of brackets supported by said carry-iron and forming a support for said unlocking means, said unlocking means involving a pivoted member operatively connected to the coupler lock and having trunnions which are respectively seated in said brackets, said brackets and trunnions having loose engagement whereby said pivoted member is adapted to turn laterally With respect to said brackets upon a lateral shifting of the coupler.

7. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination With a laterally movable coupler, of means for shifting said coupler laterally, said means involving a fulcrum member, and a lever having an operating arm and a plurality of teeth, said teeth being in a plane extending at an angle to said operating arm.

8. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a laterally movable coupler, of means for shifting said coupler laterally, said means involving a fulcrum member and a lever, said fulcrum member and said lever being each provided with a plurality of cooperating teeth.

9. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with a laterally movable coupler, of a laterally movable shoe adapted to support said coupler and to effect lateral shifting thereof, and means connected to said shoe for unlocking said coupler.

10. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination With a laterally movable coupler, of means for shifting said coupler laterally, said means involving a fulcrum member carried by the car and a lever adapted to be moved into engagement with said fulcrum member, said lever having an operating arm and an arm adapted to engage said fulcrum member, said lever arms extending at an angle to each other, and said operating arm being displaced from the vertical When the lever is in engagement with said fulcrum member.

In testimony whereof we ai'lix our signatures.

lVILLIAM McCONl VAY, JR. WILLIAM J. REGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

